Bonus prospects bright for CPS's Beneby

By Vicki Vaughan :
August 26, 2012
: Updated: August 26, 2012 11:22pm

CPS chief Doyle Beneby is upbeat — and rightfully so — about the Rio Nogales power plant purchase.

CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby may be in line for a bigger bonus this year than last.

Board members of the city-owned utility will discuss a bonus for Beneby in closed session today, then take a public vote.

In August 2011, Beneby was awarded a bonus of $180,000, and his base pay was boosted to $410,000 from $360,000.

CPS Board Chairman Derrick Howard said recently that he and CPS board trustee Ed Kelley will suggest a bonus amount to the board, but he declined to say what figure they have in mind.

“His bonus is based on metrics that he's required to meet,” Howard said. “In my opinion, he has exceeded them. But we want to hear from the rest of the board.

“He's maintained excellent ratings in reliability, in safety, and in responding to the community's needs.”

Howard noted that CPS earned a high rating from its residential customers in the past year, as they ranked the utility No. 1 in customer satisfaction among large utility companies in the South, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.

Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas director at Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, said Beneby “is in many ways doing a great job and probably deserves” a higher bonus. “He's managing to keep the lights on, he's deferred rate increases. He is investing in new and exciting kinds of electrical generation.

“But the knock on Beneby is his insensitivity to expensive meals and those kinds of expenditures.”

Early this year, Beneby drew criticism for billing the company for some expensive meals with consultants or clients. In February, Beneby reimbursed the utility $5,000 for those expenses.

The practice, it turns out, was widespread, as top CPS officials had dined at expensive restaurants, hosted CPS retirement parties and billed the company for meals that included alcohol. The board in February forbid such practices.

Also, today's pending discussion of Beneby's bonus comes after a record $16.4 million were paid to employees in May that included six-figure awards to two top executives.

The bonuses were paid shortly after CPS said it would abandon a plan to raise rates in September. The utility has said it would ask City Council for permission to raise rates in January. The council must approve CPS rate hikes.

CPS said at the time that Beneby's bonus wasn't part of the bonuses paid to other CPS employees, and that his bonus would be determined in August. Beneby's base pay won't be part of today's discussion, Howard said. Levels of base pay for top managers will remain in place “at least until the first of the year,” he added.